joining us now is fran townsend, a member of the cia external advisory committee. in addition, we should point out in the name of full disclosure, fran and other national security officials want the state department to take an iranian opposition group off the terrorist list. the european union has done so, that's the disclaimer. also joining us, former cia officer robert baer, he and his wife co-authors of "a company we keep." i'm fascinated by this story, trying to figure out who did it. this is not the first iranian scientist who suddenly gets killed in iran. >> right, this is, i think if i'm keeping track right, i think this is four. >> right. so if you're trying to disrupt the iranian nuclear program, this is one very direct way to do that? >> absolutely. you've taken out four key players and managed by doing that to also intimidate the whole body of the iranian nuclear infrastructure who will all be frightened they're going to be targeted next. >> so who do you think is behind this? >> well, you know, look, you have to -- we tend to report things as they happe

bob baer, thank you fran townsend, as well.ontinue to monitor this. >>> coming up, four convicted murderers released from prison in mississippi. they were among 199 criminals pardoned by haley barbour in his last days in office. now the state attorney general is threatening a nationwide man hunt to find a number of them they can't find. we'll get a live update next. >>> also a french journalist killed in syria, now france wants answers from the government. >>> what we found in haiti two years after the devastating earthquake. >> there would have been a tent here before. >> yeah, in a space this size, as many as 15 people would have been sharing it, sleeping in shifts. >> this to you is a sign of progress? >> absolutely. en vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixtyes. calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] entune mobile technology. ♪ stronger! ♪ stand a little taller [ male announcer ] stay seamlessly connected to your

iranian threat fran townsend to the realm of fantasy as ordinary people bombarded with media spin lose touch in a world of drones cyber warfare and security. and taming the elements and the next winter olympics host city has already become a heaven for thrill seekers. romania is gripped by the worst protests seen there in over a decade for the second week running people have been making a stand against the government crying out over a low wages rising corruption and authoritarian tendencies hundreds of arrests and dozens of injuries were reported during clashes with police and listened to what people are demanding. things to see in the streets of book or arrest. you protesters have been peaceful for the past few days but now the demonstrations turn violent. fighting as predicted out between police and protesters just behind me you can see the protesters bringing up fences and now bit expected to clash with the police line. they've started to throw bottles and other things at the police line and they're going to chime pushy sensei's into the police line now. this is a voluntary one hope

fran townsend our contributor here at cnn. good to have both of you with us. what's your reaction when you see this? are you shocked this happens or is this something that as awful as it is, happens. >> i'm shocked it took place. this is outside the bounds of anything that's trained or acceptable and these young men know that and i can't explain their behavior. i need to tell you the marine corp. will jump all over this, investigate and there will be some, there will be some accountability that will come from this. >> fran, you were addvising the bush administration when the abu pictures came out. >> based on what we know at the moment, it looks like an isol e isolatisolat isolated event, but what you have to understand and what gets lost to people is that this is contrary to u.s. policy, it's illegal. it's against the uniform code of military justice and that's why there will be a review. it gets a life of its own and it's used by people like the taliban and al-qaeda to recruit, train, inspire and raise money. as awful as it is, it has consequences that go fa

fran townsend was security adviser to president bush. >> acknowledgement by the president of the u.s.ne program makes deniability by our allies far more difficult. it's one thing when the press talks about the drone program. it's another thing when the president or senior officials in the u.s. government confirm officially that it's u.s. policy. >> reporter: that was evident in the white house briefing, as press secretary jay carney tiptoed around the target. >> was it purposeful what he said? >> look, i would just refer you to what the president and to note that the point he was making is that our counterterrorism efforts by his order include, um, very concerted efforts to be targeted. >> reporter: it doesn't address whether it was purposeful or not. that's what i'm asking, if el he made a mistake. >> he's the commander in chief of the armed force of the united states, the president of the united states. i would point you to his comments. >> reporter: you can see just how sensitive this is, wolf. when jay carney was asked multiple questions about this topic, he wouldn't even say the

. >> let's bring in our national security contributor, fran townsend, a member of cia and homeland security, external advisory boards. based on your experience at the white house, you worked there during the bush administration, some sources are now suggesting that secretary panetta may have revealed, confirmed a confidential source, namely this physician. is this a potential problem? >> wolf, what we don't know is what -- why leon panetta, formerly the cia director, would have confirmed this. whether or not there was a reason for it. in other words, to the extent that leon panetta confirms a source, it will put pressure on pakistan. pakistan has complained since the raid that that was a violation of their sovereignty and this is just an extension of that. the use of a potential source inside pakistan without the pakistani's knowledge. but what makes it odd is normally these are the sorts of disagreements between services, intelligence services best handled quietly, whether that's directly between somebody like the cia and isi. or with a third country that can negotiate for the resolution.

fred townsend, member of the advisory committee, fran, when you look at the situation and you hear thense secretary issuing a warning saying there's a red line with iran, don't cross it. are we on the brink of a military confrontation? >> suzanne, there's no question that there are increasing tensions in the united states. not just over the strait of hormuz. we learn that had the four iranian scientists murdered on iranian soil. we learned the iranian court has convicted and sentenced to death an american former marine accused of spying. remember the retired fbi agent taken into custody? and lastly was the plot against the saudi ambassador to assassinate him in washington, alleged by iran. so there has been a whole set of actions taken. not clear all of these, who they're being taken by, right. but you add to this the threatening to close the straits of hormuz, and you could see there's a reaction and action for each of these. >> do we think there's an opportunity for them to step back and december escalate the situation? >> absolutely. it's clear the u.s. is trying to do that twice in